NORTH OLMSTED, Ohio (Oct. 26, 2023) -- Rocky River has won its fourth district title in the last five years, as the Pirates -- the No. 1 seed in DII Region 6 -- defeated the No. 12 Buckeye Bucks 9-1 Thursday.
The victory for the No. 2 team in the state (Ohio Scholastic Soccer Coaches Association DII Girls State Poll) has the Maroon & White toting a 20-game win streak into those region brackets. On Thursday, River got four goals from Ava Patti, four from Sophia Sindelar, and one from Olivia Byall, as it won not only the
Northeast 5 District crown but a de facto Great Lakes Conference title against a Bucks team that won the GLC East during the regular season.
Buckeye (10-8-1) and Rocky River seemed to be engaged in a wind-blowing-out wiffleball game more so than a crucial playoff soccer match in the opening six minutes of play. The Pirates (20-0) scored 14 seconds in when Patti blocked a Buckeye clearing attempt, then slid the ball to Sindelar, who netted her 50th goal of the season. The Bucks -- winners of three straight games heading into Thursday's neutral-site affair at North Olmsted High School -- would answer with a goal of their own at the 2:41-mark.
That goal marked the first allowed by the Pirates since Oct. 4, after a stretch of six consecutive shutouts. As it turned out, that netfinder also came on what was the Bucks' lone shot on goal in the contest. And even that shot -- and goal -- would be answered by the 6-minute mark.
It was Patti scoring on a feed from Maeve Kelly at 5:11. Some 2-1 soccer ensued for the next 17 minutes of clock time. But after Sindelar nodded a ricochet ball into the net in the 23rd minute, the contest in North Olmsted would ever be heading south in the competitiveness department. And River quite literally kicked its way free of the Bucks, outscoring them 6-0 over the next -- and last -- 27 minutes of play.
It was Byall, coming up with a loose ball in a scramble on the doorstep, netting Rocky River's final goal at 48:23. The junior's fifth tally of the season gave River its fifth eight-goal mercy-rule triumph in its last six matches.
For the game, the Pirates had 16 shots on goal. And they moved one step closer to one big goal. [
DII sweet-16 brackets]
On Tuesday, Rocky River will lock horns and match wits with the winner of Saturday's No. 3 Port Clinton/No. 4 Maumee Northwest District 1 final. That game will be held at Huron Memorial Stadium in Huron. Kickoff is slated for 7 p.m.
CANNON FIRE ...
POINT(S) WELL MADE: Ava Patti had 10 points on the night (four goals, two assists) and now has 100 points this fall (33G-34A-100P). Only eight players in Ohio history have every been credited with more-than-34 assists in a single season (record: Alyssa Shaw--West Carrollton, 1996). ... Sophia Sindelar has scored 10 goals across three playoff games. She has scored multiple goals in six consecutive matches and now has 53G on the season. ... Maeve Kelly's assist marked her 11th of the season. Mackenzie Russell (ninth) and Grace Quaiser (fourth) also logged assists. ... Rocky River has twice in its history averaged over-5 goals per game (2013--5.57, 2021--5.05). The 2023 Pirates are now averaging 6.70 twine-finders per contest.
SUNNY SIDE OF THE STREAK: When Buckeye planted a goal in the third minute of Thursday's game, it ended a scoreless streak that dates back to River's Oct. 4 game, a key 7-2 conquest of the Bay Rockets. River put a lid on the goal over the final 47 minutes of that match and for the length of every game since until Thursday. The Pirates' total unscored-upon clock time in that streak was 416 minutes.
DC TRIP: Rocky River has now been district champions seven times in its 33-year history. The Pirates won their firsr district title in 2011, so all seven have come in the last 13 years. All seven have come under coach Patrick Hopkins. ... The Double-R is now 16-4 over its last 20 Buckeye State playoff games. Since 2010, the Pirates are 44-12 (.786) in postseason play.
by Skip Snow